Financial Woes Force WikiLeaks to Shut Down

Whistleblower site WikiLeaks has temporarily suspended operations because of financial constraints.

In a short note posted on its website, WikiLeaks blamed its situation on an "unlawful financial blockade" by several U.S. financial services companies. It also urged supporters to donate to its cause.

"We are forced to temporarily suspend publishing whilst we secure our economic survival," WikiLeaks said in its post. "We cannot allow giant U.S. finance companies to decide how the whole world votes with its pocket. Our battles are costly. We need your support to fight back."

The site has accused Bank of America, Visa , MasterCard , PayPal and Western Union of curtailing its ability to receive donations and process payments from supporters. Soon after WikiLeaks started publishing the classified documents, several of these payment sites terminated services to WikiLeaks, citing terms-of-service violations.

WikiLeaks said it has had to dip into its cash reserves to stay afloat.

This version of this story was originally published in Computerworld's print edition. It was adapted from an article that appeared earlier on Computerworld.com.